very cold new year

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i took these photos last week on january 3rd, when we were in the middle of our very cold spell. this week, thankfully, the northeast didn’t get the arctic blast nearly as bad as everywhere else. don’t get me wrong, it’s COLD out there, but it was actually much colder over the new year. i practically could not tear myself away from our woodstove last week it was so cold. i’m glad i stole away for a brief sunset walk, though. i bundled up in my best layers and froze my fingers getting these photos. i love the beauty and quiet that cold weather brings. birds were silent at this hour and freshly fallen snow blew off branches with the slightest breeze.

i’ve been thinking about new years resolutions lately and what i want to accomplish this year. one thing in particular i’ve been thinking about is living a more embodied life. this is something i’ve tried to tackle in the past and was certainly a huge part of the reason i moved back to new hampshire and did the americorps program that took me into the woods three years ago. i’ve been back in the woods for almost a year now, but i’ve lost a bit of that focus to live and learn an embodied life. i was particularly inspired when i read keri smith’s recent post of an excerpt by Philip Shepherd. even though we live in a very rustic cabin in a rural area it’s interesting to think about the ways in which we try to connect to the outside world and almost escape the reality in which our bodies live! yes, i bring in wood, stoke the fire, pee outside, walk a ways to get to any form of plumbing, have only half my possessions in my possession, go for walks in the woods, listen to birds, don’t shower very often, look for animal tracks, listen to the wind in the trees, and fight back bugs and rodents. but, we also have (and you probably didn’t realize this unless you know my boyfriend and i closely) a tv, video games, a digital antenna, and i still spend a lot of time looking at a laptop or my iphone. i don’t want to give up these things because it certainly feels like it keeps me and darin both sane and happy at times. still, there’s more i could do to refocus on the bodily experience. does it feel good (in the body) to sit and stare at screens for long periods at a time? what are all my different senses telling me when i go for walks? or cook in a kitchen? or lay in bed in the morning? it’s something i’m going to keep exploring and thinking about. but wait, not just think, DO!